Chevrolet Bruin

Chevrolet Bruin/GMC Brigadier
1986 GMC Brigadier 8000
Overview
Type	Truck
Manufacturer	GMC Truck and Coach Division
Model years	1978-1988
Assembly	United States: Pontiac, Michigan (Pontiac Truck & Coach/Truck & Bus)
Body and chassis
Class	Class 7-8 truck
Chassis	Ladder frame
Dimensions
Wheelbase	139–218 in (3,531–5,537 mm)
Chronology
Predecessor	Chevrolet/GMC H/J-series (1966-1977)
Successor	none

The Chevrolet Bruin and GMC Brigadier are heavy-duty (Class 7-8) trucks that were assembled by the GMC Truck and Coach Division of General Motors. The second generation of the H/J-series heavy-duty conventionals, the Bruin/Brigadier were produced from 1978 to 1988. A short-hood conventional similar to the Ford L-Series and Mack Model R, the Bruin/Brigadier was configured as both a straight truck and a semi-tractor. As a Class 7-8 truck, the product line saw use with short-haul, vocational, and severe-service users.

All examples were assembled alongside medium-duty GM trucks and GM RTS buses at the Pontiac Truck & Coach/Truck & Bus facility in Pontiac, Michigan.

In 1966, General Motors split its heavy-duty trucks further apart from medium-duty models, giving them a distinct chassis and ending the use of the cab from the C/K-series pickup truck. The 1966 H/J-series ( H=single; J=tandem) was designed with a model-specific 93-inch BBC cab and chassis. Alongside GMC V6 and Chevrolet 427 V8 gasoline engines, the H/J trucks were available with Cummins, Detroit Diesel, and Caterpillar diesel engines.

The H/J-Series formed the basis of the C(later N)/M-series trucks; using a longer 114-inch BBC to accommodate larger diesel engines). In 1977, the N/M-series was replaced by the Class 8 Chevrolet Bison/GMC General semitractor. From 1966 to 1970, GMC would use a separate conventional school bus chassis from Chevrolet, basing it on the H6500 instead of the medium-duty Chevrolet C60 (in 1971, GMC would return to a medium-duty chassis).

In the mid-1970s, General Motors began shifting away from its alphanumeric nomenclature for truck names. While still using the H/J name internally, the redesign brought new names to the vehicles. At Chevrolet, Bruin was in line with several "frontier"-related nameplates (Bison, Bruin, Kodiak, Blazer, Silverado, Scottsdale, Cheyenne). GMC took on its own pattern, adopting military-related nameplates (General, Brigadier, and TopKick; the latter being a slang term).

GMC introduced the Brigadier in a 9500 series, expanding to an 8000 series in 1979. Chevrolet offered the Bruin in a 70, 80, and 90 series. Externally, a Chevrolet Bruin is hard to distinguish from a GMC Brigadier, with the lone exception of the grille on butterfly-hood examples (on those, Bruins have two headlights while Brigadiers have four).